People are increasingly utilizing portable electronic devices to perform various types of tasks. Many of these devices include rectangular display screens which can have significantly different heights and widths, where different orientations of the device can be advantageous for different functions. For example, a user might prefer to view documents in a portrait orientation but view movies in a landscape orientation. Sometimes, a user might change an orientation of a device in order to switch between portrait and landscape orientations, such as where a height or width of a piece of content makes it easier to view in a particular orientation. In order to enable the user to easily change the display orientations, a portable computing device can include sensors such as gyroscopes or accelerometers to detect changes in orientation of the device, which then can be used to adjust a display of content on a display screen of the device. In certain orientations of the device, however, the sensor data is not adequate to determine how to properly orient the displayed content. A user setting a device down flat on a table or holding the device with the screen facing upward, for example, can cause the device to change the orientation of displayed content, as neither landscape nor portrait orientation is dominant with respect to gravity, which often is used as a determining factor for proper orientation. If the user rotates the device with the screen facing up in order to adjust the user's view, the device may again change orientation when the device is not certain of the proper orientation but detects movement of the device. These unexpected rotations or changes in orientation can be frustrating for a user, or can at least degrade the user experience.